Jim Gayley - Crymes (AR) 1954 Parler B
[From Ozark Folk Songs online. Collected by Mary Celestia Parler; Transcribed by Neil Byer; Reel 201, Item 7. This is the second ballad of that name from the Ozarks- Majors' nearly identical version (Max Hunter) is likely a cover of this version.
R. Matteson 2015]
Jim Gayley- Sung by J. R. Crymes; DeVall's Bluff, Ark., March, 1954.
Jim Gayley rode home on a cold winter night,
Jim Gayley rode home so fine,
Jim Gayley rode home on a cold winter night,
He taken sick and died.
A maid on yonders lawn,
Sewing her silk so fine,
The moment she heard Jim Gayley was dead,
She threw her silk aside.
She followed him up, she followed him down,
She followed him to his grave,
There on her bending knees,
She wept, she mourned, she prayed.
Lift up the casket, lean back the lid,
Lean back the lid so fine,
That I may kiss his cold pale lips,
For I know that he'll never kiss mine.
Now when you see a dove,
Hopping from vine to vine,
He's mourning for his lover,
Just as I mourn for mine.